Oat cuisine

Ahhh. I rather love the post-Christmas regimen.  It feels incredibly comforting to fall back into my daily routine of a sensible porridge breakfast after weeks of 24/7 sweet treats and chocolate.  Porridge is the clean-living food that will wash away all my festive food sins.  Or at least I hope it will.

I most often go for the type of porridge I had growing up - cooked with just water, then with a dash of creamy milk added at the end. Sometimes I'll throw in a handful of dried fruit or a spoon of maple syrup or muscovado sugar to add some treacly sweetness, but more often than not it's just the basic monastic gruel.

This salty-buttery version is something I had in Russia a few years ago, like a luxe version of the Scots salted porridge. It still has all the necessary wholesomeness but with enriching butter to give it a luxurious boost.  Recommended for those who have written off porridge as a dish for the sweet-of-tooth.

BUTTERED PORRIDGE
Serves 2

½ cup porridge oats
3 cups water
2 tsp of salted butter
a pinch of salt
a pinch of sugar

1) Bring the water up to the boil, then scatter in the porridge oats. Simmer for 20 minutes, stirring frequently, then add a small pinch of salt and sugar. Stir, spoon into bowls and allow the knob of butter to melt into the porridge.